For my first day in second life i spent a few hours setting up my account and creating my avatar. Once i had created my avatar with my name and character itself, my screen opened to a half created room with just a cloud of smoke. There was no sign of my avatar and i wasn’t sure what was going on. I was very frustrating but I then realised that it was just due to a bad internet connection on my laptop.

So today was presentation today and the end of the module. We were to present as a group ‘Whose watching us’ in our own view. I have to say as a whole I did really enjoy the module and found it different then your average lecture on something that i possibly wouldn’t have much interest in. This class really showed me how to communicate effectively online with other people. It was different to anything I had done before which is always a plus. My favourite part of it really tho was the discussions we had and the interesting views people had on certain topics that relevant to our culture this day in age, the affect technology and quick information is having on our society. I learned a lot and had a good time.

So our group got there early around 19.00 to make sure we could get our slides up on the board with no problems arising later on during the presentation time. Everything was fine the slides were moving through easily but unfortunately prioncious’s voice control was not working. She tryed everything she could leading up to the presentation but it turned out it was just plain broken. Ironically we had problems with the slides when the presentations started but we got a handle on it eventually. I felt it went as well as it could have but looking back on it there could have been a fair bit more done.

It was great listening to everyones topics and their persception on what whose watching us really means.There was a lot of really good creative presentations. I honestly didn’t used to give online spying much thought before as I didn’t really care but after listening to these presentations and watching ‘swoden’ a film based on Edward Snowdens whistleblowing phenomenon, It has given me a different persepective of it. Knowledge is power and I suppose as a culture we tend not to really bother looking into things that weather we admit it or not, control us. There are corporations and poisonous influences online that can steer your subconsious mind without you even noticing it. It is important for us to notice it and realise that it’s an illusion. Corporations feed us this nonsence that we have to own this, look this way or have this view purely for the sake of a profit. This has always been the case but in recent years since social media and peoples online presence has skyrocketed we are so much more subjected to it then what we used to be. I feel that it dose have positives like connecting with people and information on interesting subjects that you might have not had the possibleity to find before, But as a whole I feel that it is to much for us as people. It’s moving to quick for us and our bodies and minds are not designed to have this much stimulation. If were not careful it could eat us up and swallow the natural part of our exsistance. It takes centuries for a species to adapt to its enviroment and were not giving ourselves enough time mentally. I personally feel that being online and staring at a screen all the time dosen’t feel right even tho I do it for the large majority of my day. What the future holds for online presence is a mistery for now and I can’t help feel both curious and nervous for what awaits.

This week we had a bit of a smaller class than usual probably due to it being near everyones deadline dates for submission. I had a problem with my voice control this week as did a few others in the class, john suggested to log out and then log back in which did resolve the problem.

A discussion then arose in the class about hashtags and the signifigance of them on various different social media outlets. We first began to discuss the reasoning for them and what they actually ment. We came to the conclusion that they were to represent an activity, topic or feeling. I myself think that it is an expression and categorization through social media and that hashtag means you are declaring something through instagram or twitter. I myself don’t use hashtags as I feel there over used and irritating. I was an interesting discussion in the class tho and I feel there was some good points made.

My groups project has really started to come together at this point. We are finding some interesting information on researching ourselves and of people trying to imitate other people online. We are starting to collaberate better as a group coming closer to the deadline. We decided that we would put our presentation together on google presentation slides. It’s working out quite well, we are making our own slides and then uploading them, then deliberating what goes where.

In this weeks class we covered a few different topics. Firstly we started by agreeing that our presentation would put back to the 15th of december giving us all enough time to get our slides in order. We also agreed that our presentations would be between 5-10 minutes long.

We then began to talk about our project work and how everyone was getting on with it. John asked each group individually about their progress. Some groups were explaining how some people had a larger online presence more than others and that it was hard to find much about them online. One of the avatars explained how he deliberately deleted all of his social media due to his own personal belief whereas another avatar on in his group had a very active online and had various different accounts on social media. My group also discussed our project and that we are planning on basing it around cat fishing [imitating identity]. We have began putting slides together on each others profiles and what we could find out.

We also discussed how technology is advancing very quickly and in some cases for the worst. I brought up an argument that technology has somewhat decreased our value in music films and books as there is such a wide range in what we can watch and listen to for free. The fact that you feel that you can always be watching or listening to something better than what you have gives us a feeling that were never truly satisfied.

This weeks class was mainly discussing the group projects and how everyone was getting on. Our group had not really kick started our presentation by this point but had got in contact with each other and had created a group chat on Facebook.

We then discussed the various different media and formats in which the presentation could be delivered. John explained to us that it didn’t necessarily have to be a straightforward slides presentation and that could make it as interesting as we would like and encouraged us to use different props and recordings to make it more entertaining. We also discussed how there is little or no filters on the internet and we can be conned into being thought completely in factual information if we are ignorant enough to believe it. Where as mainstream outlets of information such as T.V, newspapers and the radio do have a high enough standard of filtration from lies to truth but that is still not to say that they right.

In this weeks class we discussed personal branding online and took a trip out to luak’s nest. In talking about personal branding people had different views about online persona and how to convert your social online stance into a professional appearance. I feel that in this day in age our online input dose affect you in the working world especially for visual communication. Graphic design has been pushed more towards digital design rather than print in recent years. Therefore it is imperative to have a strong professional presence. Social media is also a very effective, free way on marketing yourself. I have sold pieces of art off Facebook and gotten work from people i don’t know from the availability of my work right their infront of them. That is not to say that I would direct my social dealings around selling work on Facebook but I would take a professional stance when dealing with a customer.

We also took a trip out to lauk’s nest, this was our first trip out of the college with the class. Lark’s nest is one of the oldest parks in second life and was built in 2004. We met a man their called symeon siamendes. He gave us an insight into the park and allowed us to ask him questions. After the class we went on our separate ways and explored lauk’s nest for a while.

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